Rules for the DIY tour:

1. Do not enter the fields

2. Maintain social distancing

3. Be careful, there is poison ivy, wild animals, and electric fences.

   4. Do not bring dog(s) on the tour or near the Main Farmhouse. We have livestock protection dogs who will be quite upset.

4. Have Fun.

DIY FARM TOUR: 

1. Do not enter the fields or barn areas- Careful the fences are electric!

2. Feeding the Goats: there are multiple goat feeding stations at the gates entering the field. Find the gate/station closest to the goats and give a good loud “GOOOOATTEEEE” and they will come a running - feed thru the gates, keep your hands flat and try not to feed all the food to one goat. Please leave the empty container in the unit.

Stop #1. Mushroom and Bee Yards.

There is a goat feeding stop here :) If the goats are around holler “GOOOOATTEEEE” and feed thru the gate.

Follow the path in front of the garden past the solar panels and to the shaded corner, be careful there is poison ivy. The mushroom yard was built in June 2020. There are multiple varieties including lions mane, reishi, shiitaki, and oyster. There are two types of logs that are inoculated- oak and ailanthus. The logs are watered weekly and should fruit out in the next 6 months to a year. They will continue to fruit for 5-10 years.

The Bees have been a fixture at Cair Paravel for the past 6 years. We harvest about 6-8 gallons of honey every summer and eat the honey throughout the year. Occasionally we do sell the honey in our Kitchen Korner. It will be listed on our site if available, in the farm products section. The bees are an integral part of our operation. They pollinate the fruit trees and keep our gardens healthy and happy. The bees swarm in the summer when there is a high nectar flow and lots of pollen available. The queen will lay lots of additional workers and some queen bees before she swarms. She leaves the hive with about 40% of the hive and head out looking for a new home. The new queen will hatch out in the parent hive and keep it going while the old queen establishes a new colony. It you run into a swarm at any point just call your local beekeeping association. They will happily come and rescue the bees and re-home. A swarm is very docile if you ever encounter one it is an impressive site to behold.

This is also a great stop to observe the Barnyard animals do their thing :) Details on barnyard animals- Stop #5.

Stop #2- The Garden and Field Birds

The garden is the pride and joy of Martha. Her work as a master naturalist and herbalist make her garden a place where much of the Cair Paravel food is grown. Do not harvest or pick from the garden. Please stay on established paths. You can see that we are in the process of building a new hot house. Please be aware of the bees, insects and butterflies that help pollinate the garden.

The field birds are our rotating laying flock. The ladies lay an egg every 26 hours and we gather about 2 dozen eggs a day. Throughout the warmer months the flock is on the fields. The chickens are moved daily to help control the bug population and fertilize the fields. We have a mix of different breeds of birds which is why the eggs they lay are all different colors. During the winter the laying flock is moved to the barn.

Stop #3- Orchard

There is a goat feeding stop here too :) If the goats are in the field holler “GOOOOATTEEEE” and feed thru the gate.

The orchard and lower fields are visible from this location. If the goats are grazing in the middle pasture it is a good place to try and feed them. The orchard is one of the many projects at Cair Paravel. We have been building Hugel mounds to help control the runoff and sink water down into the ground. We have two large apple trees that provide us with enough apples to make cider, pies, sauces, and jellies.

Stop #5- The Barn: Broilers, Ducks, Goats and Dogs

There is a goat feeding stop here too :) If the goats are at the barn holler “GOOOOATTEEEE” and feed thru the gate.

If you see two large white dogs they are Aslan and Hector, Great Pyrenees livestock guardian dogs. They are THE BEST, and have kept all our animals alive and safe from predators for the past 10 years. (*Aslan has now crossed the rainbow bridge.)

The ducks are kept for both meat and eggs. Our drake (male duck) is a Pekin and the ladies are Khaki Campbell ( great layers and mommas). We let the ducks sit on their eggs and hatch them out in the heat of summer. Ducks have to have a pool to bathe in- to keep their feathers clean and to help keep the eggs moist (necessary for hatching) and we clean and fill the pool daily,

We raise Cornish Cross and Freedom Ranger broiler birds for meat. The Cornish Cross are the large white birds and the Freedom Rangers are the red birds that are rotated thru the back of our barn pasture. We get the chickens in the mail and raise them from 3 days old until they reach ideal weight (7-10lbs) which is about 6-18 weeks! All the meat fowl are processed on site and sold to guests as well as at our local farmers market.

We do not have public access to the pigs at this time- they are working in the woods- clearing and forging. If you wish to see them please book and in person tour.

We have a Virtual Video Tour on our website that corresponds with the stops on this DIY tour that go more in depth. :)

You can book an in-person tour for $15 a person on our website. 24 hr advance notice required for all tours.

The best time to feed goats is in the evening around 5/6 pm.. They are HUNGRY then and normally around the barn at that time ( stop #5 and #1)